CANNES CONTENDER:BLAKKKLANSMAN

Hollywood may still be grappling with its diversity problem, but this week at Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee's screenplay for "BlacKkKlansman" is competing for the festival's "Palme d'Or" award. The film tells the true story of detective Ron Stallworth (played by Denzel Washington's son, John David Washington) who infiltrated a Colorado chapter of the KKK in 1978. With the help of detective Flip (played by Adam Driver) he was able to sabotage several malicious activities the notorious hate group planned to execute.

The film, adapted from a book by Stallworth, will be co-produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out) under his company Monkeypaw. The Academy-Award winners agreed to work together after Peele introduced the idea to Lee who was unfamiliar with Stallworth's story. From there, they brought the screenplay to life with the help of Universal Pictures subsidiary Focus Features. The film will be released on August 10, 2018 just two days before the anniversary of the fatal "Unite the Right" rally led by white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA.